The present invention relates generally to inkjet printheads, and more particularly to a fluid manifold for an inkjet printhead assembly.
A conventional inkjet printing system includes a printhead, an ink supply which supplies liquid ink to the printhead, and an electronic controller which controls the printhead. The printhead ejects ink drops through a plurality of orifices or nozzles and toward a print medium, such as a sheet of paper, so as to print onto the print medium. Typically, the orifices are arranged in one or more arrays such that properly sequenced ejection of ink from the orifices causes characters or other images to be printed upon the print medium as the printhead and the print medium are moved relative to each other.
In one arrangement, commonly referred to as a wide-array inkjet printing system, a plurality of individual printheads, also referred to as printhead dies, are mounted on a single carrier. As such, a number of nozzles and, therefore, an overall number of ink drops which can be ejected per second is increased. Since the overall number of ink drops which can be ejected per second is increased, printing speed can be increased with the wide-array inkjet printing system.
When mounting a plurality of printhead dies on a single carrier, the single carrier performs several functions including fluid and electrical routing as well as printhead die support. More specifically, the single carrier accommodates communication of ink between the ink supply and each of the printhead dies, accommodates communication of electrical signals between the electronic controller and each of the printhead dies, and provides a stable support for each of the printhead dies. Unfortunately, effectively combining these functions is difficult.
Accordingly, it is desirable for a carrier which provides support for a plurality of printhead dies while accommodating fluidic and electrical routing to the printhead dies.
A printhead assembly includes a carrier having a fluid manifold defined therein, and a plurality of printhead dies each mounted on the carrier and including a first nozzle set and a second nozzle set. The fluid manifold includes a first chamber and a second chamber such that the first nozzle set of each of the printhead dies communicates with the first chamber of the fluid manifold and the second nozzle set of each of the printhead dies communicates with the second chamber of the fluid manifold.